Musical Fruitcake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WESLEY WILLIS!

Wesley Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed schizophrenic, he gained a sizeable cult following in the 1990s after releasing over 50 CDs of unique but simple music, with an emphasis on his stream-of-consciousness lyrics. Most of his exposure came as an internet phenomenon during the early days of peer-to-peer file sharing (via Napster).

Wesley was perhaps the most prolific and the best-known outsider musician. His formula was simple: a kicking synth beat under a spoken verse, trailed by the song title yelped four times in a chorus. The formula worked so well that Wes composed thousands of songs in the same exact pattern.

In 1989, Willis began hearing what he called “demon voices” and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He often mentioned that his demons were named “Heartbreaker,” “Nervewrecker,” and “Meansucker”. He called his psychotic episodes “hell rides”. Alternatively, he declared rock and roll to be “the joy ride music” and Willis often indicated that listening to and performing music helped him battle the voices. Willis, diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia, often claimed that demons were trying to ruin his “Harmony Joy Music” or “Harmony Joy Rides”. Based on various quotes from Willis (which sometimes contradict one another) a “Warhellride” is most likely a horrible experience on a CTA bus (such as people being mean to Wesley and/or the bus driver refusing to play Rock music). Willis also used the term to describe general harassment. He mentions in one of his songs, “He gave me a yelldown warhellride.” When asked about the demons or Warhellrides, Willis would often comment that he was trying to “stay the hell out of prison” by “not hitting people in the street with bricks.”

In the early 1990s, Willis became creatively active, selling detailed magic marker drawings of the Chicago cityscape on the street. These works of outsider art appear on the covers of his albums; photographs of his artwork can be found in the links below.

In 1992, Willis joined musicians from the city’s alternative rock scene to form the hard rock band, The Wesley Willis Fiasco, which produced such future file sharing favorites as “Jesus is the Answer” and “Casper the Homosexual Friendly Ghost“. Willis created a buzz in the Chicago music scene and soon caught the attention of American Recordings, a major record label.

As a solo artist, Willis created more than 50 albums, each with nearly 30 tracks, full of bizarre, excited, and often obscene rants about crime, fast food, cultural trends, bus routes, violent confrontations with superheroes, commands for his “demons” to engage in bestiality, and praise for his favorite actors, friends (both platonic and romantic), politicians, and hip-hop and rock artists.

One of Willis’ trademarks was headbutting with his fans. Typically when approached by a fan, Willis would gingerly hold his or her head between his hands and say, “Say rock!” The fan would respond as instructed and Willis would bump his head against his or hers. Then he would say, “Say roll!” and the fan would again respond as instructed and the two would again bump heads. Willis would repeat this over and over as long as the fan would tolerate it. Willis also used the headbutt as a form of greeting to his friends. The large callus in the center of his forehead resulted from this habit.

Sadly, Wesley Willis passed way on August 21, 2003. He had been diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) in late 2002, and his health had been deteriorating while staying at a hospice in Illinois.

Among the thousands of songs that Wesley Willis wrote, one of my favorites is a song called “Merry Christmas.”

I miss you Wesley. I loved you like a milkshake.

LISTEN TO SONG:

DOWNLOAD MP3:
Wesley_Willis-Merry_Christmas.mp3

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Posted by Jef Elf on May 31st, 2007 at 12:01 am
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